Eastampton woman organizes fundraiser in son's memory

Wednesday

Hunt-Ruble, a township resident for more than 20 years, lost her 33-year-old son, Donald E. Meredith Jr., to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in February. She and friends and family have put together a team, “Buddy Love,” Meredith’s nickname, with a goal of raising $25,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

“I don’t want him to just be a memory,” Hunt-Ruble said. “He meant a lot to many people. I don’t just want that to go away. That’s how I want him memorialized, by doing something to help others. He would be proud. … I want his life to be more than he was just here and then gone.”

The team has organized a beef-and-beer fundraiser from 3 to 7 p.m. Sept. 8 at the 38 West bar on Route 38 in Lumberton. The event will feature food, beer, music, horseshoes, door prizes, raffles and a “car smash.”

Hunt-Ruble said the “car smash” will give people an opportunity to take a sledgehammer to a donated junk car. Ray Ward and his band, which performs in the Philadelphia area, will play, and a disc jockey also will be featured.

Tickets are $25. They can be ordered and donations can be made by calling 609-410-1532 or emailing shuntruble@aol.com. The raffles, auction and car smash cost extra. Space is limited. Items to be raffled include jewelry, gift certificates, Phillies tickets, and Eagles and Phillies memorabilia.

Hunt-Ruble characterized her son as a good-natured man who loved “mud trucking,” fishing, boating, jet skiing and motorcycles. A bit of a “daredevil,” Meredith was healthy and robust until cancer struck.

It has been a harrowing few years for Hunt-Ruble and her family. She had lost her husband, Edwin R. Ruble, to colon cancer in March 2010. Then her daughter, Patti, gave birth to a premature baby, Chase, on May 26, 2011. Born at about 24 weeks, he weighed just over a pound and had to spend months in the hospital.

“All I did for 90 days last summer was go from hospital to hospital,” Hunt-Ruble said. “I was just coming out of losing my husband when all this broke out with my daughter and son.”

Meredith started feeling ill in September 2010. At first, doctors didn’t think much of it. But by spring the next year, he was suffering night sweats and high fevers. Initially, it was thought he may have Lyme disease or hepatitis. In June, the family learned the dreaded reality: Meredith had cancer.

After three bouts of chemotherapy, numerous spinal taps, blood transfusions, and the cruel realization that although Patti was a perfect bone-marrow match she couldn’t help her brother because his body was unable to undergo a transplant, the family realized Meredith was not going to make it.

“Nobody said life was fair,” Hunt-Ruble said. But still, she told family members: “We were lucky this year. We got a miracle. We got Chase.”

She acknowledged that it has been a struggle, but that the support of family and friends has helped her get through.

“The sun still comes up each morning,” she said. “I get up and just busy myself with the kids and just move on.”

Hunt-Ruble is still emotionally raw and grieving, but she said organizing fundraising efforts has given her something to focus on.

“When he passed away, I started this immediately,” she said. “It is our hope someone else will win their battle with blood cancer (through money raised).”

The team, which is led by Robin Eble of Hainesport, also is planning to attend the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s “Light the Night Walk” in Princeton on Oct. 13. It is raising money through the sale of bracelets and shirts in Meredith’s memory, and is planning to sell a cookbook with some of his favorite recipes. Some of the recipes, along with photos of Meredith, will be on display at the beef and beer.

“Her son was the type of person who would look out for everyone else,” said Kim Zerbe of Eastampton, a team member who was friends with Meredith. “Everybody loved him.”

Zerbe, whom Meredith called “Miss Zerbe,” still has texts saved from him vowing he would fight as hard as he could to survive.

“He never stopped fighting,” she said.

And now his loved ones are making sure his fight wasn’t all for naught.

Rose Krebs: 609-871-8064;

email: rkrebs@phillyBurbs.com;

Twitter: @rosekrebs

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